Recruit Update

Late post tonight as I was in Providence crossing another hockey arena off my list. With my visit to Meehan Auditorium tonight to watch Harvard squeak by Brown 2-1 I’ve now been to all the DI college hockey rinks in New England except Sacred Heart. I’ve also nearly completed visiting all the ECAC rinks except Colgate and Princeton.

Surprisingly Meehan was a pretty good place to watch a game. It doesn’t have nice amenities like multiple food stands, convenient bathrooms, or decent promotional giveaways (tonight was Brown paper clip holder night, seriously). But there’s not a bad seat in the house and the standing room area is even better as you can see below:

▲

Kevin Boyle – G – Westside Warriors (BCHL)
39 GP / 20-16-1 / 3.02 GAA / .902 sv%
Another up and down weekend for Boyle. First he allowed 3 goals in under 30 minutes of play then the next night he got a shutout, his first of the season. That’s it for the BCHL regular season. Boyle finished 12th in GAA and 14th in save percentage in the 12 team league. His Warriors are a 4 seed in the Interior Conference and playoffs start Friday.

Kenny Gillespie – RW – Shattuck St Mary’s (MN)
39 GP / 11 G / 37 A / 48 Pts / 50 PIM
Shattuck is in the middle of a stretch where they don’t play from February 10th until the 26th.

Zack LaRue – C/F – Markham Waxers (OPJHL)
50 GP / 33 G / 36 A / 69 Pts / 26 PIM
LaRue has had a goal and three assists in three playoff games so far for the Waxers. His goal was a gamewinner. His team is up 2-1 in the series.

Former Collegian editor Andrew Merritt has a must read about Greg Mauldin finally getting an extended chance in the NHL in the New England Hockey Journal. Mauldin was even featured on the cover of this month’s edition. A timely link as Mauldin will be the feature of my View From Section U column tomorrow.

Anonymous

If you read FTT regularly then you know I’ve been following Boyle and the other recruits very closely. In the BCHL this season Boyle has had great games and not so great games, usually both in the same weekend.

I didn’t say he’s a sieve. I didn’t say he sucks. And I didn’t say he’s a waste of a scholarship. I don’t think any of that and even if I did I wouldn’t say it anyway. I said he’s inconsistent because the data supports that conclusion. It’s not the end of the world. Inconsistency can be overcome. And no one knows what he’ll be like when he hits Amherst.

But if you go back and read each weekly recruit update this season I don’t know how you can describe his season as anything but inconsistent.

Anonymous

I’ll ask the question again, since it wasn’t answered the first time. Was the comment regarding Boyle, right or wrong, necessary? You’re commenting on a new recruit, why don’t you just leave it at that and leave the comment on Boyle out. Have you made similar comments on recently recruited forwards because this one or that one has been “inconsistent”?

The fact that you even feel that you have the knowledge to make a negative comment about a recruit that you have seen play – uh – tell us Mr. Rocks – how many times – lends to your credibility on the issue.

First, yes I did feel it was necessary. UMass goes into next season with two goaltenders on scholarship, Teglia and Boyle, and a seasoned walkon in Moore. If I were to just pass along the fact that UMass has added ANOTHER goaltender to the roster for next year without doing my best to say why a fourth goaltender may be necessary I wouldn’t be doing a very good job of keeping the UMass hockey fanbase informed on what’s going on with the team. That is, after all, is the whole reason I started this blog and spend my time reading and writing about the team.

Thirdly, I’ve seen Boyle play twice. Both times I thought he showed a lot of skill but had a tough time discerning how well his skills could potentially translate to college because of the overall level of play in the AJHL. I thought the BCHL was a great opportunity for him to play against top notch opposition and he’s done well by helping lead his team to a 4 seeding in the playoffs.

Lastly, this is a place for open and honest discussion about the UMass hockey program from a fan’s (mine and the other readers’ and commenters’) perspective. I’m not going to refrain from being critical of the athletic department, the coaching, or even the players when I think it’s deserved. If Paul Dainton is fighting the puck, if T.J. Syner misses an empty net, if Chase Langeraap takes a bad penalty, I’m going to call it out as a mistake. If a recruit gets chased in one game and then gets a shutout the next, or how Boyle performed last weekend, I’m going to say he played inconsistently. Personally I think I go out of my way to allow myself to be critical without being insulting, because in the end I have a great amount of respect for these players who put so much effort into representing my alma mater. And the same goes for the recruits. In the end these are DI college hockey players, or soon to be. If “inconsistent” is the worst they hear after four years of playing in Durham, Orono, or even their own Mullins practice rink by their own coaching staff then they’ll be lucky.

Anonymous, I’m not a fan of the Minutemen, so I’m not sure your comment really applies to me. 😉

Rocks … there are four incoming players that I’m really excited about. Wallin (who Heisenberg rates highly as well), Conderman and Wilson (all forwards) and Lyles (transfer Jr). I think all four of those guys will make a big impact next season. The rest are a question mark. The oldest Eiserman (a D) comes in this fall, the next one is the falling fall (G) and there’s a third (a F) that’s supposed to be extremely good and is only a freshmen in high school right now. Hopefully (for Lowell fans) he follows his brothers.

I’ve said all I’m saying. If you’re looking for just the bare facts about the team, UMassAthletics.com is for you. If you’re interested in knowing what’s going on with the team from a hardcore fan who follows the team closely and does his best to relay what he knows and observes about the team while doing so, then please keep reading Fear The Triangle. Thanks.

Anonymous

Lame Rocks, really lame response, but expected no less. I’ll go ahead and keep up on a kid 4000 miles away from you based on the two games you’ve seen him play, your pasting his stat page, and “UMassathletics.com”

I stand by my original post that your comment was absolutely unnecessary and ill informed. Your posts since prove the point. Stick to what you know – which isn’t a whole lot.

Persee

So… do you argue with Webster’s Dictionary definition of the word “Inconsistent” :

in·con·sis·tent
adj \-tənt\
Definition of INCONSISTENT
: lacking consistency: as a : not compatible with another fact or claim b : containing incompatible elements c : incoherent or illogical in thought or actions : changeable d : not satisfiable by the same set of values for the unknowns
— in·con·sis·tent·ly adverb
See inconsistent defined for English-language learners »
Examples of INCONSISTENT

1. Customers have been complaining about the inconsistent service they have received.
2. The pain has been inconsistent.
3. Her grades have been inconsistent this school year.
4. Their descriptions of the accident were inconsistent.
5. The results of the two experiments were inconsistent.
6. The decision was inconsistent with the company’s policy.

If you do not choose to challenge the definition of a decades old word in the English language, then perhaps you might want to stop being so overly sensitive about your son, nephew, or whatever. If it makes you feel any better the 2010-11 UMass hockey team is inconsistent.

George

“Hey Monty Hall – how’s this. I saw Paul Dainton play Merrimack twice. He lost 11-2 in one game and lost the other 2-1. Talk about inconsistent.”

Yep, he was solid in the 2-1 loss, although you don’t mention which 2-1 loss because you can’t get put the axe down long enough to make a coherent statement. And yes he was bad as was the rest of team in the 11-2 loss. That’s inconsistent. What’s your point because as I’ve read all your posts, I still don’t get the point you’re trying to make?

Search Fear The Triangle Archives

Contact Fear The Triangle

Suggestions? Questions? Care to share which Hockey East ref you hate to see take the ice? Have any beer suggestions? Feel free to email me.

If you want to add your two cents about a specific topic discussed don't hesitate to use the comment function.

Support FTT

Fear The Triangle will always be free. But there is some investment associated with providing first-hand coverage of UMass hockey. Specifically, domain hosting, travel, game streams, and ticket costs all add up. Not to mention the hours spent every day reading and writing about UMass hockey. I'll continue to do this for the foreseeable future even if it runs me into financial ruin (it won't, I think) and my wife divorces me (hopefully just as unlikely). But if you enjoy what you read here and want to show your support, here is a link to contribute to FTT via PayPal.

Legal Verbage.

Fear The Triangle is not affiliated with the University of Massachusetts, the UMass Hockey program or any other organizations having to do with UMass (or organizations having to do with triangles for that matter). What you read here is purely the opinion of the owner and frankly his mental state has always been suspect.